MODERN CONCEPTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE. 73 
At the death of an organism, no immediate change occurs 
in the materials composing the body, but it is evident that 
in the corpse something is missing which the living organism 
possessed. 
Matter, such as oxygen or carbon, is often spoken of as 
“dead” matter, but this description is inadequate. Many of 
the chemical elements are capable of being absorbed into the 
bodies of living organisms, and though only a small part of the 
total sum of any one element, such as carbon, is associated with 
life at any given time, yet every molecule of that element is so 
far under the spell of life that, under proper conditions, it will 
be compelled to take its place as part of a living body. It thus 
appears that there is a very real relation between life and a 
great part of matter, and the statement may be extended to all 
matter if the elements are merely various forms of a single 
substance. We are led to the conclusion that the capability of 
most, if not all, matter to enter into association with life was 
provided for in the design and original formation of the 
molecules, and further, that life and matter have proceeded from 
the same source. 
§ 13. Origin of Life—Experinents have led to the conviction 
that in the present order of things the lnking of hfe with 
matter can only arise from the action of living organisms, and 
thus we arrive at the conception that living organisms did not 
appear on the earth as the unaided result of actions between 
mere molecules. We therefore conclude that the first living 
organisms were created. 
The question at once arises whether the creation of the first. 
living things took place at the same time as the creation of 
inanimate matter, or whether inanimate matter was in existence 
before the creation of living organisms. The only guide with 
which science provides us is the existing order of things, and if 
we follow this in tracing back the history of the earth, we come 
to a time when the earth’s surface was red-hot. Lord Kelvin 
made this conception more precise by estimating how many 
millions of years have elapsed since that time. The discovery 
that radium gives off vast quantities of heat in the course of 
its transformations makes it necessary to revise Lord Kelvin’s 
numerical estimate, but it does not invalidate the conclusion 
that only a finite number of years has elapsed since the earth’s. 
surface was red-hot. 
In addition to Lord Kelvin’s method a number of quite 
independent methods of solving the problem have been devised, 
aud they all indicate that, at the most, not more than a few 
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